Histiocytosis -A Truly Motivational
Soccer Story
For 18 months
Sean Feltoe battled life and death
with courage, love and support. This
truly is understatement. Regardless
what else is said here please
understand that the purpose of the
story is to:
1) Recognize Sean
and his family - Mother Sue, Father
Mike and Brother Paul.
2) Create
awareness of Histiocytosis (HLH).
3) Spread the
word. He-mo-phag-cy-tic lym-pho-his-ti-o-cy-to-sis
(HLH)
Please
visit
www.histio.org
Histiocytosis
Defined: Courtesy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histiocytosis
***In medicine,
histiocytosis is
an excessive number
of histiocytes, that
is, an excessive
number of tissue
macrophages ( white
blood cells), and
is typically used to
refer to a group of
rare diseases which
share this as a
characteristic.
Occasionally and
confusingly, it is
sometimes used to
refer to individual
diseases.
The histiocytes may
attack skin, bone,
muscles, and other
important organs,
including the liver,
lung, spleen, and
hematopoietic( red
blood cell
formation)
system. The disease
is somewhat similar
to cancer, and
treatment often
involves radiation
and chemotherapy.
According to the
Histiocytosis
Association of
America, 1 in
200,000 children in
the United States
are born with
histiocytosis each
year. HAA also
states that most of
the people diagnosed
with histiocytosis
are children under
the age of 10. The
University of
California, San
Francisco, states
that the disease
usually occurs from
birth to age 15.
Histiocytosis (and
malignant
histiocytosis) are
both important in
veterinary as well
as human pathology.***
_______________________________________________________
Sean's' Story
It all started
quite innocently in February of 2008
when Sean started to feel
ill.. He had flu like symptoms -
high fever and vomiting. After a few
days with his health getting worse
he was rushed to emergency and
quickly transferred to the
Hospital for Sick Children. Sean at
the time was seventeen, so why was
he sent to this hospital?
As it happens
this "condition" HLH although rare,
most typically occurs with children
under the age of ten with a very
low survival rate.
He remained there
for five weeks fighting for his life
while getting blood work done and
taking toxic medication.
The following has
been reprinted by permission
from Sue Feltoe while Sean was a
patient at the Hospital for Sick
Children
May 22, 2008
"the last few
days have been a night mare ... Sean
is back in serious condition waiting
for another bone marrow biopsy
tomorrow. they also found lesions on
his spleen. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT
SEAN IS FIGHTING!"
Sept 12, 2008
"they have
found three lesions on his spleen,
one of which is growing , and two
smaller ones on his liver"
October 21,
2008
"had two
seizures - went to ICU"
On October 28,
2008 Sean was airlifted to
Cincinnati Children's Hospital ,
Cincinnati, Ohio and put under
the care of Dr. Michael Jordan -and
no its not the basketball player-
(Saint - as referred to by Sue
Feltoe). It was there he
remained for more than five months.
While in
a patient at
Cincinnati Children's Hospital...
November 7,
2008
"Mike and I
are holding each other up... right
now we take turns sleeping in Sean's
room while the other sleeps at
a local lodge that houses families
and adults who are living with
cancer or supporting someone with
cancer"
December 23,
2008
"guess what.... Sean'S new
bone marrow HAS sTARTED To GRAFT!"
January 18, 2009
"Sean
continues to get better every day
(but slowly)"
April 9, 2009
"We are home
and the drive home yesterday went
very smoothly... After dinner Sean
disappeared to the basement to his
music..."
December 4,
2009
"It's been 24
hours since we have returned from
Cincinnati for his one year post
transplant check - up... Dr. Jordan
(a.k.a Saint) was so pleased with
his lab results and his over all
health status... Sean is ready to go
on with his life! SEAN GRADUATED FROM
HIGH SCHOOL LAST MONTH"
Please understand
these are just a few of the on going
messages that were sent by Sue
Feltoe during Sean's fight for
survival.
I had worked with
Sean for at least three years in the
Bryst International
Soccer Academy
teams program and had dealt wit him
on many occasions with bumps,
bruises, and at least one
concussion as head therapist.
Some final
thoughts from Sue Feltoe
"Sean survived because of many
factors but the biggest one was
because he was so fit... the
doctors told us that Sean survived
mainly because he was so physically
fit... soccer saved his life
1- because it kept him fit
2-because soccer taught him not
to give up- it teaches discipline,
determination and to look forward
and continue to fight and do your
best.. our family values that
Bryst
International Soccer also embraces and teaches each of
their players
3- because he has such a
positive outlook on life-
his motto ( even before the Olympics
was BELIEVE)
In life, goals are meant to be
achieved against all odds. Sean, in
the middle of one of his darkest
moments said to me" Mom,
WHEN I get
out of this, I am going back to
soccer to play the Under 21 men's
league 2010, going to graduate, get
my drivers license, get a job and go
to college.. We are proud to say he
has achieved ALL of these goals.
We all need to take a page out of
Sean's book and look at life
differently"
I find both his
and his families story simply
inspirational.
Sean currently
works as an assistant to the
goalkeeper coaches at
Bryst
International indoor soccer program
on the weekends.
Please visit
www.histio.org
